Sophomore Cornerback Feeling Up To Challenge

CAPITAL ONE BOWL

Both Teams Will Be Under Pressure To Stop Their Opponent's Passing Game Today.

January 1, 2004|By Alan Schmadtke, Sentinel Staff Writer

Every day he plays football, Purdue cornerback Sean Petty practices visualization. Interceptions and touchdowns happen all the time in his mind.

"I close my eyes and see myself making a big play, taking it to the house," he said. "This week, all I've seen on the other side is Georgia. I've been thinking about them. I'm ready to go."

Petty, a mild-mannered sophomore, will see if he can turn his mental imagery to reality today in the Capital One Bowl. After having played in just three games this season, he steps in as an emergency starter for No. 12 Purdue against No. 11 Georgia at the Florida Citrus Bowl -- a battle of two stout defenses bent on halting the passing game.

Petty was elevated to the starting role when the Boilermakers lost starter Jacques Reeves because of academics. On paper, Petty appears to be the weak link. But not if you ask his teammates.

"He's going to be fine. He knows the assignments," Antwaun Rogers, Purdue's other starting cornerback, said of Petty. "He's been doing all the right things in practice. He knows he's going to make plays, and we know he's going to make plays."

Petty's sudden day in the sun comes as teams with drastically different age dependencies try to make school history. Georgia (10-3), relying on a slew of first- and second-year players, aims to post back-to-back 11-win seasons for the first time.

Purdue (9-3) can own a 10-win season for only the second time in its history by beating the Bulldogs, and a victory could push the Boilermakers into a top-10 finish for the first time since 1979.

"We've had a good time down here, but it's time to get down to business," Purdue linebacker Niko Koutouvides said. "We've got a lot of seniors, so this is our last time together. Obviously, we want this to be a special game. But this is going to be a challenge."

For both sides.

Defense carries the load for both teams, and statistically their offenses are nearly identical. Each has a quarterback -- David Greene for Georgia and Kyle Orton for Purdue -- who figures to be prominent on preseason all-conference and maybe even All-America lists next season.

The biggest difference: Purdue's short-passing game is superior to any Georgia saw this year, and the Bulldogs said they saw fewer than 20 plays of the empty-backfield formations that Purdue will use.

In that event, the pressure is on Georgia cornerbacks Bruce Thornton and Tim Jennings.

"If they go no-backs, we know they're going to throw, and those are days it's fun to be a DB," Thornton said. "Then it's all about us going up, fighting for the ball and beating the other guy."